page_title: Revindication of Orthodox Churches in the Second Polish Republic
section_title: Spontaneous actions by Catholics
hierarchical_section_title: Revindication of Orthodox Churches in the Second Polish Republic / The first wave of the recovery from 1919 to 1924 / Spontaneous actions by Catholics
caption_attribution_description: English: Garrison Church in Kielce Français&#160;: Egise Garrison à Kielce Polski: Kościół Garnizonowy Najświętszej Marii Panny Królowej Polski w Kielcach
context_page_description: The Revindication of Orthodox Churches in the Second Polish Republic was a series of actions led by successive governments of the Polish state from 1919 to 1939. In particular steps were taken from 1919 to 1924, 1929 to 1934, and 1937 to 1938.
  The restitution action formed part of the general policy of the Second Republic against the Polish Orthodox Church, which aimed to minimize the social and political influence of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian national minorities. An important motive was also a strong hostility to the Orthodox Church, a religion which was seen as a representative of the partitioning powers on Polish soil, as well as the memory of the
  dissolution of Roman Catholic monasteries in the Russian Empire. Action was initially through spontaneous takeovers of churches by Catholics and in later stages by pre-prepared government plans. Orthodox churches were torn down, closed, adapted to become Roman Catholic churches or public buildings.
  According to surviving documents from 1937 to 1938 the goal was total Polonization of areas west of the Bug River and to maximise Polish cultural influences east of it.
context_section_description: During the first wave of the recovery, there were spontaneous actions by local Roman Catholic communities in order to take over Orthodox churches for their own use or to close or destroy them. Such an attitude was a reaction to the earlier policies of the Tsarist government, which treated the construction of new Orthodox churches as part of their policy of Russification and often built them in areas where there wasn't a need, or quite consciously constructed them in areas to symbolise Russian rule. This earlier process of Russification by the Tsarist government had included closing down Catholic monasteries, officially banning the building of new churches and giving many of the old ones to the Russian Orthodox church, and banning Catholic schools. The acts of retribution were not done with state or local authority consent, but in some cases they were approved by church authorities.
  In some areas, the latter encouraged the faithful to take over churches: the bishop of Podlaskie, Henryk Przeździecki, issued a special decree on December 11, 1918, which called for the priests of his diocese to immediately restore to the Roman Catholic Church all Orthodox churches which had been originally established as Catholic churches (even those set up as Eastern Catholic churches). He also ordered the immediate reopening of all Roman Catholic churches and chapels closed by the Tsarist authorities. The response to the bishop's call was so great that by 1920, Przeździecki changed his ordinance, leaving the decision open on the fate of specific objects seized from the Orthodox church. Performing these actions was much easier after World War I and the October Revolution because the Orthodox church was in organisational chaos. In 1915, retreating Russian troops often took church equipment with them, especially those from the numerous Orthodox military churches. Many Orthodox clergy left too, gradually returning after 1918.
  A specific feature of the first wave was also the recovery and the destruction of churches seen as symbols of Russian rule, such as the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw or the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius (Cerkiew Świętych Cyryla i Metodego) in Chełm (commemorating the liquidation of the Eastern Catholic diocese of Chelm in 1875). This happened both spontaneously and (in the case of the cathedral in Saxon Square) after long discussions at governmental level. Churches were demolished in Aleksandrów Kujawski, Grajewo, Janów Lubelski, Jędrzejów, Kalisz, Kolno, Kozienice, Lubartów, Lublin, Łask, Łomża, Mława, Modlin Fortress, Opoczno, Osowiec, Ostrów Mazowiecka, Pińczów, Płońsk, Przasnysz, Pułtusk, Raczki, Radomsko, Raduczu, Rawa Mazowiecka, Różan, Rypin, Sieradz, Sierpc, Skierniewice, Słupca, Sosnowiec, Suwałki, Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Warsaw (6 locations), Włocławek and other locations. Some of these places, which did not find their way into the hands of the Catholics, were adapted for secular purposes, for example a former Orthodox church in Ostrołęka became a scrap yard, one in Skierniewice became a granary, and one in Staszów, a theatre.
caption: The Garrison Church in Kielce, is located in a former Orthodox church
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